Potato potential discussed at Empire State Producers Expo

by Courtney Llewellyn

SYRACUSE, NY – Consumers are used to certain varieties of
produce when they shop. Growers tend to be a bit more adventurous – and their
explorations of agriculture often have the goal of presenting consumers with
different, sometimes better, options.

At the recent Empire State Producers Expo, Chuck Bornt of
the CCE Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture Program, presented the “Fresh
Market Potato Variety Round-up,” discussing the nearly three dozen potato
varieties tested in 2018.

“Up until 2016, I grew five acres of potatoes. Now I grow 34
varieties in trials,” Bornt said. The farm where the varieties were trialed is
Barber’s Farm in Middleburgh, Schoharie County, NY. He explained that during
the last growing season the farm aimed to grow two trials, one organic and one
conventional. However, the summer’s rain in eastern New York presented a soggy
issue.

The conventional seeds were planted on May 17 with 40 inch
row spacing and nine inch in row spacing. The plot length was 50 feet, and the
number of hills planted per variety was 65. The conventional trial was
completed on Nov. 24, but they were unable to finish the organic trial due to the
weather.

“We tend to want to grow specialty varieties, but we need a
good yellow to replace Yukon Gold,” Bornt said. “And we’re always on the lookout
for good reds and whites. These trials are like a sneak preview of what might
be coming down the pike.”

Varieties were divided into white skins, red skins, yellow
fleshed, russet lines and specialty lines. Their total marketable yield was
counted and graded by size (chefs being greater than three inches, A’s greater
than two and a half inches and B’s greater than two inches). They were graded
on Jan. 4 and Jan. 9, 2019 – “and we cook and eat all of these, so it takes a
while,” Bornt laughed.

Some of the standouts from the trial included the
white-skinned NY151, which Bornt noted could be a replacement for the popular
Eva variety. NY151 had a higher total marketable yield than Eva, but had fewer
chef-sized and more A-sized potatoes. Observation notes included “skin is
pretty smooth, not a lot of texture; bright white flesh; nice inside, no hollow
heart.”

Another notable variety was the red-skinned NDAF113484B1.
“This one really stole the show,” Bornt said. It had an overall smaller yield
than Chieftain, the variety used as the standard, but NDAF113484B1 was
comparable in the ratio of graded chefs and A’s. “Shape is nice; skin has a
little texture to it due to silver scurf; good size; we need to look at this
again; may have a good disease package” stated the observations on this
variety.

As for the yellow-fleshed varieties? Work still needs to be
done to find the tuber that will unseat Yukon Gold as king.